Pacific Power Paradox, Van Jackson
Pacific Power Paradox, Van Jackson
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Pacific Power Paradox
American Statecraft and the Fate of the Asian Peace

Author: Van Jackson

Narrator: Tim H. Dixon

Unabridged: 10 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/10/2023

Synopsis

A new history of Asian peace since 1979 that considers America’s paradoxical roleAfter more than a century of recurring conflict, the countries of the Asia-Pacific region have managed something remarkable: avoiding war among nations. Since 1979, Asia has endured threats, near-miss crises, and nuclear proliferation but no interstate war. How fragile is this “Asian peace,” and what is America’s role in it? Van Jackson argues that because Washington takes it for granted that the United States is a force for good, successive presidencies have failed to see how American statecraft impedes more durable forms of security and inadvertently embrittles peace. At times, the United States has been the region’s bulwark against instability, but America has been a threat to Asian peace as much as it has been its guarantor. By grappling with how America fits into the Asian story, Van Jackson shows how regional stability has diminished because of U.S. choices and why America’s margin for geopolitical error is less now than ever before.

About Van Jackson

Van Jackson is a senior lecturer in international relations at Victoria University of Wellington and the author of several books including On the Brink and Rival Reputations.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Patrick

I was very impressed by this book. I've enjoyed Van Jackson's podcast, but a lot of East Asian security questions feel very high stakes to me and I tend to avoid commenting too much on them. Jackson preserves those stakes but contextualizes them in an impressively engaging way. This book has a great......more

Goodreads review by Harry

Worth writing a longer review somewhere else so just a short blurb here: This is a rich and deeply clarifying book about the puzzle of the “Asian Peace,” that is, the lack of new interstate wars in Asia since 1979. What Jackson reveals is that the straightforward explanation—US military hegemony—only......more

Goodreads review by Adam

This book was really interesting and insightful, but I wanted to like it more than I actually did. I've been following Van Jackson on Twitter for some time before I read this book, and really value his foreign policy analysis. However, I found the book heavy on criticism of American policy in Asia,......more

Goodreads review by Hunter

Jackson provides a compelling account of the history of US primacy in Asia and the structural imbalances in US statecraft (a heavy emphasis on military dominance without adequate attention to sustaining the multilateral order and economic architecture that has underpinned the Asian peace). He makes......more

Quotes

“This book presents a timely and critical account of American statecraft toward Asian peace since the Nixon administration. Provocative in theoretical reasoning, rigorous in empirical analysis, and rich in policy implications, it is a must-read for students of American foreign policy and Asian studies.” Chung-In Moon, Yonsei University

“Van Jackson’s Pacific Power Paradox is a ‘must read’ for policymakers, would-be policymakers and students of history focused on America’s role in Asia. Jackson has not only written an impressive, tightly written distillation of the history of America’s foreign policy on Asia, but tells his narrative through an incredibly useful, practical frame—the tools of statecraft.” Philip W. Yun, President and CEO of World Affairs

“In this refreshing and stimulating book, Van Jackson challenges the conventional wisdom about the role of the United States in Asia with sophistication and rigor. Anyone interested in the region’s past—and future—should read it.” M. Taylor Fravel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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